Workbox



M. O. COREY Mardi *11, 1941.

WORKBOX Filed Dec. 22, 1939 @my @u /Nwf/vol? MARK ORL/N Co/PEY ad .FOR THE FIP/Y1. /TToP/vfvs.

Patented Mar. 11, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention relates to workboxes, and particularly to sewing boxes for holding the supplies and equipment used in household sewing work.

It is an object of this invention to provide a 5- sewing box having means for orderly disposition therein of sewing supplies and equipment, and especially to provide means for storing spools of thread within the box in such manner that they will not commingle in disorderly fashion l with the other contents of the box.

It is another object of the invention to provide in a sewing boxmeans for rendering conveniently available, when the box 'is open, the spools Yof thread which are stored therein.

l Other objects and advantages will be apparent from a reading of the specification, drawing, and claims of this application.

In the drawing- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a workbox einbodying my invention, with the lid and front wall in open position.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the box with its parts in closed position, the position of the cover, front lid, and connecting link mechanisms when the box is opened being shown in dot and dash lines.

The box comprises a body A, a lid B, and a frontdrop wall C. 'I'he box body A comprises a bottom I I, a back wall I2, and end walls I3 made of any suitable material and rigidly secured together in any desired fashion. The box bottom II is preferably provided with front and rear supporting bars I4 extending longitudinally of the box and adapted to support the box bottom II in a position slightly above the surface upon which the box rests. A dividing Wall I5 is secured between the end Walls I3 in such a position in the interior of the box as to divide the interior chamber of the box into a front compartment I6 and a rear compartment I'I.

The lid B is hinged to the rear wall I2 at the upper edge I9 thereof. The front wall C is hinged to the bottom II at the front edge 2| thereof. A slotted tie strap 22 is pivoted at its upper end to the lid B. A pin (not shown) mounted on the inner Wall of the adjacent end I3 of the body engages the slot of the tie strap 22, terminating the opening movement of the lid B at a position in which it is substantially vertical but slightly inclined away from the box body.

The front wall C of the box is provided with a row of pins 23 which are rigidly mounted on the inner face of the wall C in a position normal to the plane of the front wall. These pins are spaced from each other and from the edges of the front wall C to accommodate spools of thread 24. The pins 23 may be sufficiently long to hold two spools each, depending upon the conditions of use and the purposes for which the box is 5 designed.

The dividing wall I5 is spaced from the front of the box sufliciently to accommodate the pins v23 in the compartment I6, when they are in horizontal position in the closed box. Articles of 10 supply .and equipment which are loosely disposed in the compartment I'I are kept separate from the spools on the pins 23 by the dividing wall I5. This separation of other articles from the spools adds to the neatness and orderliness of arrangement of the box contents and prevents soiling or disarrangement of the outer winding of thread on the spools.

A link 25 is pivotallymounted at its center upon the inner face of one of the end walls I3. 20 A link 26 is pivotally connected at its one end to the upper end of the link 25 and at its other end to the lid B. A third link 21 is pivotally connected at its one end to the lower end of the link 25 and at its other end to a bracket 28 se- 25 cured to the inside face of the front wall C.

'I'he links 25, 26, and 21 are so dimensioned and connected to the box parts that when the lid B is in closed position the front wall C is mechanically held in closed vertical position, as 30 shown in full lines in Fig. 2. When the lid B is lifted, the link mechanism operates upon the front Wall C to swing it outwardly and downwardly. When the lid reaches the position shown in Fig. 1, at which the tie strap 22 prevents fur- 35 ther backward movement of the lid about its hinges, the front wall C has reached a horizontal position as shown in dotted lilies in Fig. 2. In this position, the spool holding pins 23 stand upright, making the spools thereon readily available 40 for removal. On the other hand, when the lid and iront Wall are in closed position, the spool holding pins 23 are nested in horizontal position within the front compartment I6.

The rear compartment l1 is designed to hold 45 thimbles, measuring tape, and other articles used in sewing. Preferably the under side of the lid B has attached thereto holding devices of any desired character (not shown) for the orderly holding of scissors, bobbins, papers o-f needles, 50 and other sewing supplies and equipment.

It will be seen that by this invention there is provided a workbox which holds the various articles contained therein in compact, neat, and orderly fashion, and when opened so disposes its 55 A particular box has been described in Idetail herein, and a particular arrangementof lid, front Wall, and connecting mechanism has been spcied. The invention is not limited to this particui lar box or to the particular arrangement of lid,

front wall, and connecting flinkv 'mechanism'. .Many modifications of the box and its parts can be made without departing from the scope of the invention which is dened in the appended claims. f

I claim a-s my invention:

1. In a Workbox, the combination of: a box body; a lid hinged to the upper edge of the rear wall of said body; a front drop wall hinged to the front edge of the bottom of said body and adapted to sWingzyfrom a vertical to a horizontal position; spool holding pins mounted upon and normal to theinner face of said Wall; and means mechanically linking together said lidv and said front'drop Wall for simultaneous opening movements and simultaneous closing movements of said lid and said front drop Wall about their respective hinged axes.

2. In a Workbox, the combination of: a. relatively broad shallow box body; a relatively broad lid hinged to the upper edge of the rear Wall of said body; a relatively narrow front drop Wall hinged to the front edge of the bottom of said body and adapted to swing from a ver'tical to a horizontal position; spool holding pins substantially shorter than the width of said box and mounted upon and normal to the innerv face of said front drop wall; means mechanically linking together said lid and front drop wall'adapted to permit said lid and front drop wall to simultaneously assume a closed position and simultaneously assume a vertical and horizontal position respectively; and stop v'means for halting the movement of the lid at a substantially vertical position.

3. In a Workbox, the combination of: a rela- Cil said Wall; a vertical dividing wall mounted longitudinally of said box body at a distance from the iront of said boX suilicient to clearby a relatively small distance, the outer ends of said pins whensaid front wall is in vertical closed position and at a distance from the rear of `said box suiiicient to afford a compartment of substantial size for holding sewing articles; and means mechancally linking together said lid and said front drop Wall kfor simultaneous opening movements and simultaneous closing movements of said lid and said front drop Wall about their respective f hinged axes. u Y

MARK ORLIN COREY. 

